Cloudeight Direct Computer Care Family Pack

New! Limited Time Offer!

If you have more than one computer user in your home - or you have family members who would benefit from our Cloudeight Direct Computer Care Service, this offer is for you!

For a limited time - you can get 3 Cloudeight Direct Computer Care keys that you can use yourself or share with family members or friends. These keys are fully transferable. And like all our Cloudeight Direct Computer Keys, they never expire. They are good until you use them. 

Our Cloudeight Direct Computer Care keys are good for all kinds of computer repairs, checkups, optimization, malware removal and a whole lot more.

Take advantage of this limited time offer! Learn more about and/or get your Cloudeight Direct Family Pack here.

A comment from Nona
Thank you, TC for your patience with me. I'm a little computer dense, but you were always helpful and patient with me.  The respect you show your customers should be a model for other service businesses. I appreciate everything you and Darcy do for all of us. God Bless you both. You can count on this: I will be spreading the word on how wonderful your computer care service is. Nona.

A comment from Delores
Had Darcy install and set up Thunderbird email for me today. She's fantastic.  And she went above and beyond and tuned up my computer for me too. Now I know where to go if I have any kind of problems with my computer in the future. Cloudeight is great! I know I can rely on Darcy and TC to fix things up. Thank you so much! Delores.

A comment from Larry
Just a note to say THANK YOU to Darcy & TC. In the month I've used Cloudeight's Direct Care service twice. Once for TC to repair my laptop and once for Darcy to fix up my desktop. Both were fantastic and professional.! Thanks to both of you for the great work you do. Larry

A comment from Virginia
I want to throw thousands of Kudos to Darcy for the straightening out of my new computer and getting Emsisoft installed for me. You guys are the absolute best and I am thankful for the day I found Cloudeight and these fantastic offers to fix our computers. I wish I knew just 1/10th of what you two know about the workings of these marvelous machines. I pray you stay in business for the rest of MY computer days!

A big Cloudeight "Thank you!" to Nona, Delores, Larry, Virginia, and everyone else who took time out to write to us, share a comment and/or share us on Facebook! We appreciate your kind words and your support very much! EB & TC. 

Your Purchase Helps Us!,
When you purchase any Cloudeight Direct Computer Care Service, you get the best computer care and repair, at the lowest possible price. Plus, each Cloudeight Direct Computer Care service you purchase goes a long way in helping to support our small business.

Your computer fixed - while you watch!
With our Cloudeight Computer Care, we'll fix your computer while you watch. You'll be getting the best computer repair service available, at the best price, from people you trust. Our Cloudeight Direct Computer Care single repair keys are a great deal. They are good until you use them.

For more information see our Cloudeight Direct Computer Care home page!

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Deanna has concerns about upgrading her Windows 7 computer to Windows 10
I have resisted upgrading because I am tired of doing this on all the computers I have owned. I started with Windows 95. That tells you how old I am. LOL! My computer now has Windows 7 but it is a refurbished computer...but good memory and works perfectly! Will the fact that it is a refurbished PC have an affect the update to Windows 10? I have loved former operating systems and was angry when they were deserted! I used to do computer themes and loved doing that, how disgusting that Microsoft made that obsolete! I have a lot of software I cannot any longer use...grrrr I am a widow and it was a wonderful creative outlet for me! Now, no longer there! Anyway, I know I have to move forward...can you make my computer Windows 10 and make it work like 7...since I can't do my creative thing at least I will know how to work it! And it is important to me to that all my links still work, like to my bank and important places I need to go. Thanks for your wonderful help I have enjoyed for years! I have been with you for years, so long I don't even know how long anymore! I will be happy to buy this service from you if you can help me! Thanks, Deanna

Our answer
Hi Deanna. Thanks for your support and for sticking with us for all these years!

We offer a Windows 10 Transformation Service that includes our help in upgrading to Windows 10 - and then making it look like and work a lot more like Windows 7. It's $35 and you can read about it here:

www.thundercloud.net/direct/2019/transform/

Thus far we have done several dozen upgrades and we have no found any data loss or loss of bookmarks, links or desktop icons in any of the successful upgrades. I don't believe a refurbished computer would make a difference as far as upgrading.

One thing to keep in mind is this: If the upgrade is not successful, your computer will be restored to the exact same condition it was before the upgrade was started. In other words, you'll have Windows 7 and all your files and programs.

I'm Looking forward to helping you soon.

John wants to know if his Windows 10 recovery media will install an older version of Windows 10 or a current one
Hello, you two wonderful people. I have a quick question, please. I have a Dell laptop, 2 years old. I don't remember the version of Win 10 it came with but I have upgraded several times successfully. I have version 1903, fully updated. I just created a recovery drive, saving system files to it also.

My question is if I needed to use the newly created recovery drive to reinstall Win 10, would it install version1903, or would it revert to some previous version. I cannot seem to find a straight answer. Thank you so very much for your previous help too. Sincerely. John M.

Our answer
Hi John. Your installation media would whatever the current version of Windows 10 is at the time you used it. You can use the Windows 10 installation USB drive or DVD to reinstall Windows any time. During the installation, it will automatically check for updates and then install the current (at that time) version of Windows 10. So, there's no need to keep making new installation media.

Thanks so much for your support and your nice comments.
--------------
John wrote back: "Thank you very much. I kind of thought this, but wanted a straight answer. I always get fact from you. Thanks again, John."



Patricia fears she's been infected with Ransomware RAT malware
I have been threatened by Ransomware "RAT"...quote: "My malware gave me full access & control over your computer--all your accounts, password...I can see everything on your screen."

I would like Cloudeight to please clear this threat from my computer. They want: '1200$' with current bitcoin price to my bitcoin address. My bitcoin address is: (Bitcoin link removed for safety by us.)

You are welcome to contact me by phone or email.

Our answer
Hi Patricia. Good news! There is nothing on your computer to remove.

What you've endured is nothing but a tech support scam ad. Please see this page for more information. On that page there are links to our other articles about tech support scams and these contain dozens of screenshots of scams in action.

What you've encountered is just an ad made to look like a warning- it may have horrible beeping sounds and even a voice telling you that your computer is locked and your data is at risk. It's designed to scare you. Don't panic.

All you need to do is press CTRL+F4 to close the tab. If that does not close the tab, press CTRL+F4 again. If all else fails, shut down your computer completely (power off). Leave your PC off for five minutes. When you restart and you open your browser, it will tell you that your browser closed unexpectedly, would you like to reopen the tabs that were open? Do not reopen the tabs that were open, or you'll be right back to the scam ad. Press CTRL+H and clear your browser's history.

Your computer is not locked, you're not going to lose data, and if you shut down -- then restart your computer, you will be fine. Just remember do not click "Yes" when your browser asks if you want to restore pages that were open when you shutdown. And then be sure to clear your browser's history as soon as you can.

Please let us know if you need more help.

Beverly cannot color her Windows 10 taskbar or Start menu
Hi, first wanted to say I found your daily e-mail very helpful this AM. on Windows Accessories. Really find you folks fascinating on how you continue to share your knowledge to help us in our daily computer time. Thank you.

Now on to an issue, ever since update 1903 my taskbar is white and I do not like it at all. I went to Personalization and tried changing it but won't happen. It has White Custom and Dark choices and I am on Custom. I click on Colors and pick my color but won't change. I pick my theme as well and then color but no good. If you have any ideas why I would appreciate it if you could find time to post about it in your future newsletter. Thank you again very much. Bev

Our answer
Hi Beverly. Thanks for your nice comments. You have Windows Mode set to light - this is making your taskbar almost white.

You must set it up exactly as shown on the following page to in order to change the color of your taskbar & start menu.

http://www.thundercloud.net/infoave/new/colorize-your-windows-10-start-menu-and-taskbar/

We also recommend you turn off transparency - since it may make your colors look faded or washed-out.

Hope this helps you, Beverly. Thanks again for your nice comments.
--------
Beverly wrote back: "Wow, thank you so very much TC, awesome to have my plum-colored taskbar back. Wow again and love it. Thank you also for sending me the fix directly. Before your link to fix my Personalizing wouldn’t let me tick the box to Show Accent color on the following surfaces- Start, taskbar, and action center. The box was grayed out. Thank you. Have a great day. Bev."

 We answer more of your questions from this past week here!

Microsoft will end support for Windows 7 on January 14, 2020. Using Windows 7 after that date may put your computer at risk as Microsoft will no longer be releasing security updates and fixes for it. Now's the time to upgrade to Windows 10!

Get more information or purchase your "Transformation" now. 



 

Prevent a Problematic Windows Update From Reinstalling in Windows 10
Windows 10 (all versions)

In Windows 10, your PC or device is always kept up to date with the latest features and fixes. This means, for most of us who use Windows 10 Home, we have no control over installing updates. Windows Updates are installed automatically, and you have no choice to select which updates you want or don't want.

We are all aware by now that sometimes a Windows 10  update can cause problems with your PC. In this case, you'll need a way to prevent the problematic update from reinstalling automatically the next time Windows Updates are installed.

If an update is causing system crashes, problems or instability on your PC, you can follow the instructions below, to prevent the unwanted update from being installed:

In the taskbar search type “View Installed Updates” (without the quotes).and then click on View Installed Updates -- Control Panel when it appears in the search results. To uninstall the unwanted update, select it from the list and then click Uninstall.

Now, you're all set until the next time Windows updates and reinstalls the update you just uninstalled. So, you have more work to do, if you want to prevent Windows from reinstalling that trouble-causing update.

 If you want to prevent that update from being reinstalled, keep on reading.

To prevent the update from being reinstalled, a troubleshooter is available from Microsoft that provides a user interface for hiding and showing Windows Updates for Windows 10. You can obtain and run the "Show or hide updates" troubleshooter from this page.

When you click on the download link, you will be prompted to open or save wushowhide.diagcab. Save it to your PC and click to run it.

Opening wushowhide.diagcab will launch the troubleshooter. Then click "Next" to proceed and follow the instructions provided by the troubleshooter to hide the problematic update.

When the program starts to run, you'll see it scanning your computer for updates. When it's done you'll see a window like this one.

Click on "Hide updates"

Windows will display all pending updates:

You'll see a list of available updates. Select the update or updates that are causing your problems to hide them. Once they are hidden, Windows will not reinstall them.

Do You Know About Windows Accessories?
Windows 10 (all versions)

One of the nicest things about receiving so many questions in our email is that we can see when something needs to be covered more in our newsletters and on our site. Just in the last few days, we’ve gotten emails from several nice folks who recently upgraded to Windows 10 (version 1903) and can’t find Notepad or WordPad.

As far as we know, version 1903 doesn’t change the location of either, although Notepad has been updated for the first time in decades, it’s nothing earth-shattering. Also, Notepad is available from the Microsoft Store, which is confusing, since anyone with Windows 10 already has Notepad.

Anyway, all that aside here’s how you can find Notepad and WordPad in Windows 10 (any version – including 1903).

Type Notepad in taskbar search & press “Enter”

Type WordPad in taskbar search & press “Enter”.

If you want either of these on your taskbar, open them, and while they’re open, right-click their taskbar icons and choose “Pin to taskbar”.

By now, you’re probably scratching your ears and wondering what the heck any of this has to do with Windows Accessories. Your wondering shall be quelled.

Open your Windows 10 start menu and scroll down to Windows Accessories.

And click the little down arrow to expand the Windows Accessories folder.

You’ll find all sorts of goodies in Windows Accessories, including Notepad and WordPad. You will also find Internet Explorer, Paint, Snipping Tool, Windows Media Player, Character Map ®Ñ¥ (sorry, couldn’t help it!) and a bunch of other things, some of them of dubious usefulness.  

If you didn’t know about Windows Accessories or what was in the Windows Accessories folder, now you do. And if you did know about Windows Accessories, let this serve as a reminder that it’s there.

3 + 1 Equals 4 Great Browser Tips 
Tips for Chrome (and other popular browsers)

We both use Chrome as our default browser. But we also use Edge and Firefox occasionally. And we’re slowly warming up to Edge Dev – but it is still a work in progress. If you use Chrome as your default browser – or even if you just use it occasionally – you’ll find these three tips very useful. (Hint: These tips also work in Edge Dev.)

1. Show recently viewed pages with a click
Did you know you can show a list of recently visited pages from the current tab? You can. All you have to do is right-click on the “Back” button and you’ll see a list of recently visited pages. And as illogical as it sounds, this also works with the “Forward” button too.

2. Drag-a-tab
Did you know that Chrome lets you detach a tab and open it in a new window? It does! All you have to do is drag the tab outside the active window. And you can also add it back to the original windows too. Just drag it back and drop it.

3. Drag your downloads
When you download a program using Chrome, you will see it on Chrome’s status bar (the bar along the bottom of the browser window). Did you know you can drag that download tab out of Chrome to your desktop or any folder on your computer? Also, you’ll note at the far right edge of the download tab (which shows the file name) you’ll see a little down-arrow. If you click that arrow you’ll get options such as “Show in folder”. “Run”, “Always open files of this type” and “Cancel”.

And remember. There’s a chance that one or more of these tips will work on other browsers too. So don’t be afraid to try them with Firefox, Opera, Edge or the aged IE.

And one more tip that works in almost all browsers.

4. Going Home 

Most of you have a Web page you call your home page. Of course, we’re sure it’s http://thundercloud.net/start/ because you like us so much. Probably not though, but we can always hope. Anyway, when you’re surfing the Web and you want to return to your home page most of us click the “Home” icon on the browser’s toolbar. But, did you know you can get there faster without using the mouse at all?

You can and here’s how: When you’re browsing around the Web, no matter where you are, all you have to do is press the Alt + Home keys to return to your home (start) page. We told you! You can get home more quickly without a mouse. So next time, give the mouse a rest and go home the quick and easy way.

The Stars On Thars
Windows 7, Windows 8x, Windows 10 (all versions)
Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Edge Dev, Internet Explorer & most other  browsers

*** My apologies to Dr. Seuss…***

Over the course of years and after doing thousands of Cloudeight Direct Computer Care sessions, it just occurred to me that most people, it seems,  have never noticed the little star in (or near) their browser’s address bar. If you’re one of those who’ve never this star, you’re missing out on one of the easiest ways to add a website or webpage to your Favorites or bookmarks.

Here, we will show you.

Above: Internet Explorer

Above: Google Chrome

Above: Firefox

Above: Microsoft Edge

To add a site or page to your Favorites or bookmarks just click on the star when you’re on the site or page you want to add. It’s really quick and really easy.

Next time you want to bookmark a page, look for the star and you’ll be a star at adding sites or pages to your Favorites or bookmarks. It’s as easy as clicking the star when you’re on a page or site you like and want to save to your Favorites or bookmarks.

You might not know the planet Mars –
But now you know the stars on thars.

Oh EB! A star is born…



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Time to Take Ownership

File and folder permissions are normally set to protect your computer from unwanted actions. But when Windows denies you access to a folder or a file you want to delete or modify and it won’t let you, it’s aggravating.  Files which you know exist but are not accessible because Windows says you don’t have permission to access them is maddening! Trying to delete one of these kinds of files is time-consuming and frustrating.

When you try to delete something and you get an “Access Denied” or a “Cannot delete this file because the file is in use” error message, you just want to throw up your hands up in dismay or kick your computer. Don’t do either.

Instead, man-up (even if your a lady) and show Windows who’s the boss. Take ownership of the file or folder and have your way with it.

We’ve mentioned other programs that can assist you with these aggravating error messages but we’ve never found one easier to use or with a better interface than TakeOwnershipPro. And while its name has Pro in it, the price does not – it’s freeware, I tells ya!

And, once you’ve installed the program you can just, drag and drop a file or folder on to it, or browse to the file or folder using the “Add” button. And if that’s not enough, also have the choice of right-clicking on a file or a folder and choosing “TakeOwnershipPro” from the right-click menu. Something else: If you choose a folder, you can also choose to edit the permissions of all the files and sub-folders inside the folder. Boo-ya! 

It doesn’t get much simpler or minimalistic than this, does it?

Once you have your file or folder selected, just press the Take Ownership button and give TakeOwnershipPro some time to work its magic. Once TakeOwnershipPro has done its job, an on-screen prompt will let you know the operation was successful. Now that you own the file or folder for real you can delete or access it and/or have your way with it.

Well, that’s about it folks. We tested TakeOwnershipPro on 9/12/2019 and again on 9/18/2019 and found no monkey business going on with its Web site or download links –  and no added junk or PUPs in the installer. It was 100% clean.

If you want to read more about this program you can read our full article here.  Or if you've read enough and you're ready to go forth and take ownership of your files and folders, just visit this page to download and/or learn more about TakeOwnershipPro.

If you purchased or renewed Reg Organizer through Cloudeight within the last 12 months, you're entitled to a free version upgrade to Reg Organizer 8.30.

Save $14 on Reg Organizer right now!

Reg Organizer - A Swiss Army Knife of Windows Tools - Works Great on Windows 10!

The Fall of Summer

It was the little things, the tiny saplings on the forest floor, the small things that no one notices that became the sentries of the seasons. As winter faded into spring, it was these sentries, with their heads barely above the ground, that sparkled with the first greens of spring.

I barely noticed them. But they were there. Though spring had arrived, when I looked up, the forest trees were still as barren as brittle January day, but when I looked down, on the ground, I saw life spreading through the saplings whose leaves and branches were as small and as fragile as a baby butterfly’s wings.

You're invited to read the rest of this essay here...

SeniorPass: A Great Deal for Our Friends 60 and Older!

Includes "Anytime Repair" with Our Unattended Support Feature!

With our Cloudeight Direct Computer Care SeniorPass, our friends age 60 and older get one full year of unlimited computer care and repair for one low price. With our SeniorPass you'll get the best computer care anywhere - any time you need it! SeniorPass is valid for unlimited computer care & repair sessions for one full year starting with the first time you use it. The clock does not start ticking until you use your SeniorPass for the first time. A great deal!

Computer care & repair for one full year just $99!  Check out our SeniorPass offer right now!

Get your SeniorPass and/or get more information here.





Clean up that download folder!

Yes, folks, we all have a download folder, the folder where we keep all the files we've downloaded from the Web. But there comes a time when you need to clean up that download folder...

We see tons of exe files in people's download folders - mostly program set-up files. But here's the rub - once you've installed the program you don't need the installation set-up file. And if someday, you ever need to reinstall it the program again, you don't want usually want to use an old version you've been clinging onto for months or years. You can download the current version from the program's web site. Removing the installation set-up file does not remove the program you installed. There are only a couple of good reasons why you may need to hang on to a program's installation file:

1. You totally dislike the newer versions of the program and the old program works fine for you

2. The program is no longer available on the web - or it is no longer available for free.

So, this weekend, make it a point to do some early autumn cleaning (or some early spring cleaning if you live south of the equator) and start deleting all those old set-up files in your download folder. You don't need them, we tells ya!

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• Thunderbird Email Setup: Let us set up Thunderbird for you. Thunderbird works great with Windows 7, Windows 8 and with all versions of Windows 10. Get more details here.
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We hope you have enjoyed this issue of InfoAve Premium. Thanks so much for your support and for being a Premium subscriber.

Have a great weekend.

Darcy & TC
Cloudeight InfoAve Premium - Issue #832
Volume 16 Number 48
September 20, 2019

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